Spring suspension for vehicles



March 6, 1928. 1,661,428

H. W. HYDE SPRING SUSPENSION FOR VEHICLES Filed Aug. 24. 1923 Quin/062607".- by m QQNQ &

Patented Mar. 6,1928.

UNlTED STATES 1,661,428 P N O ICER HENRY wn nnYnE, OF NORTH c HAssE'rf MAssAcHUsErTs, lxssreNolr'ro TRYDE ENGINEERING COMPA OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS sr rNGsUsPnNsiONroR V HICLES I t Application iiIed-Aiigust 24, 1923; Serial NO. 659,096.

This invention relates to vehicle spring suspensions of the general type shown and described in 'my' priorLetter-s Patent No 1,524,437, dated January 27,1925. 7

As explainedin said prior, patents, the invention therein shown consists primarily in providing the vehicle with longitudinal springs or springreaches connected at their ends, eitherldirectly or indirectly, with the a to the body and willnot tend to tip Or pitch slightvertical one in a substantiallygrectilinear direction. 1

the same, said, ;body beingpermitted by rocking about itsfaxis with respect to the reaches, to maintain its substantially horizontal position its only movement being a l'n my prior ;-patent, aforesaid is described a spring suspension wherein-the pivotal or rocking; connection between the ,body and the reaches is located at one side of the cen; ter, of, gravity of the 'body jtoward one end of the latter, balancing springs being employed at the endof the vehicle atthe op? posite side OftllB center-of gravity, whereby upward 'niovem'enti of the; axle at said last named end results in theapplication to the body of upward forces at opposite, sides of the center of gravity, the moments o1" which forces are so balanced; asgto prevent rotation tor body-supporting iraine, hereinafter-reor pitching; of the: body. I In another application, filedMay 28, 1923, Serial No. 6 l1;,933, is shown a construction, wherein upward movement of the axle at the oppositev end of the vehicle is also. accompanied by the application of balanced upwardforces to: the bodyat both ends, so that saidbody is held againstpitchingnnder the influence of upward shocks'reeeived by either axle. and the consequent rocking of the reaehesineither direction. 5 "In still another application, filed April 23, 1924, SerialN'o. 708, 130," is shown a form of spring suspension 01 the same general typefemploying balancing -s'prjings which are 1 connected; at both ends with y the body so as to support thesame at pointsintermediate the rocking connection and the ends and thereby further stabilize the same thesupporting forces applied by said bal- 1 ancmgsprings being, however, relatively small and sufficient only to compensate for The present invention hasfor its obje ct,

to provide a i'orn'ro't spring-suspension;of

this general type, which combines the ad vantages: of the forms above referred to and in additlon permits'the use of the socalled Hotchkiss drive whichis so largely elnployed in automotive engineering atthe present time, and which necessitates-a connection between the spring-suspension and theibody of such a; character. as to, take the drive and torque fronrtherear axle.

This and-other objects of theinvention, together with means whereby the 'latterinay be carried; into efiect,qwi-ll best be under v stood from the following descriptionof one ,i'orm Or embodiment thereof illustrated; in

the accompanying,drawingss; It is to be understood, however, that the I particular construction described andshown has been chosen for illustrative pu'rposesmerely, and

Fig. 2 is plan viewthereof, the chassis,

ierred to as the body-frame, being partly broken awayin order to show the parts of the suspensionbeneaththesameh -The drawings show a pair 1 of spring reaches to which the bodyframe 10 ?is connected by means of coaxial pivotsll inter-.

posed betweenbrackets 12'and l3 securedto' said frame and reaches, respectively, the

axis 'of'said pivots being disposed vforward of the'lcenter Ofgravityof the body, and the forward end of the body being free.

Each of the spring reaches is composedof asubstantially rigid beam 14L having leaf spring extensions 15 and 16 at the forward] and rear ends respectively. The forwardspring extensions 15 are secured at their forward ends, as by U-bolts 17, to the front axle 18 of the vehicle. Supported intermediate their ends by hangers 19 from the rear axle 20 of the vehicle are substantiallysemi-elliptical springs 21 connected at their outer or rear ends by shackles 22 with the rear end of the body frame 10. At the inner or forward side of the axle 520 the springs .21 are connected by shackles .23 with the rear ends of the rear spring extensions 16 of the respective spring reaches, the connections 22 and 23 being substantially equidistant from the axle 20. The leaves of the spring 21 are symmetrically graduated on opposite sides of the axle 20, in accordance with normal p 'actice, but at the front ends of said springs the upper or main leaf, and, if desired, the second leaf also are extended beyond the shackles 23 and are pivotally connected at their ends, as shown at 2 1, to the body frame 10 substantially at or slightly in the rear of the center of gravity of the latter. These relatively light extensions of the springs 21, act as balancing or stabilizing springs for varying loads in the tonneau, and also take the drive and torque from the rear axle, in accordance with the well-known principle of the Hotchkiss drive.

It will be seen that when the rear axle is raised, upward forces will be applied to the body at opposite sides of the center of gravity thereof through the pivots 11 and shackles 2:2, respectively, the moments of these forces being balanced so as not to rock the body, as more fully explained in Letters Patent N 0. 1,524,437, above referred to. It will also be seen that when the front axle is raised, the forward end of the body will be lifted by the pivot-s 11, the rear ends of the reaches being at the same time swung downwardly about said pivots, thereby through the springs 21 acting as levers fulcrumed on the axles 20, exerting an upward force upon the rear end of the body, also tending to prevent pitching thereof, as more fully explained in application Serial No. ($41,933. It will furthermore be seen that the connection Q l'between the springs 21 and the body frame 10, which connection is be tween the pivotal axis 11 and the rear end of the body, serves further to stabilize the body as in application Serial No. 708,430. The pivotal connection 21 being substan tially at the center of gravity of the body, forces transmitted to said body therethrough do not tend to pitch or rotate the body, or if said connection be in the rear of the center of gravity, the parts will be so designed that the moments of the forces transmitted to the body at the points 11, 22 and 24 are substantially balanced about the center of gravity. By reason of the connections 23 between the forward portions of the springs 21 and the rear ends of the rear spring extensions 16 of the spring reaches, the latter tend to exert a downward pressure reaction against the former when either axle is raised. The pressure or reaction is transmitted, in the form of a downward force, to the body at the point 524, said force tending to resist upward movement of the body in the vertical, rectilinear direction in which the lifting forces are transmitted thereto, so that shocks are absorbed to an increased degree by the resilient portions of the suspension, and the movements of the body are further reduced.

This can be seen by considering where the resultant forces act on the body. and their relation to each other. Thus. when the front wheel is raised, due to encountering an obstruction, the spring reaches turn about the axis of the pivots 11, causing a relatively strong vertical force at this point. The rear end of the reaches have a down ard tendency'at the shackles 523. This force is absorbed by the springs 21, the major portion being a downward force on the rear axle. and a very minor portion being a downward force at the connection 2- This is relatively small, for the reason that the springs 21 are 'n'o 'iortionately very much more flexible between the shackles Q3 and connections than in the other parts of said springs. This is deliberately accomplished by stopping the normal gradation of the leaves at the shackles 23, and only carrying through one or two leaves to produce a stabilizing effectfor *arying loads in the tonneau, there being, as referred to above, a strong downward force at 28, and the elliptic springs being able to turn about the axis of the rear axle, there is a resulting upward force on the body at 2:2. Accordingly, to summarize the results of these forces, we have a relatively great vertical force at 11, at a moderate distance from the center of gravity, a relatively small downward force at :24 very close to the center of gravity, and a relatively medium upward force at 22 at the maximum distance from the center of gravity. The conihined effect of these three forces is to raise the body in a vertical direction, and they so balance and neutralize each other that there is no tendency to pitch, or gyratory forces acting eccentric to the center of gravity.

In this specification, the phrase spring reaches is employed as a comprehensive term to denote longitudinal members through which the body is supported from the axles and composed wholly or in part of springs. The term, therefore, is to be taken as including a unitary spring as well as a reach composed of a substanially rigid beam to the ends of which are attached springs. It will be understood that when the spring reach is constructed as last described, and as herein shown, the connection IUU llu

for most purposes, the suspension'might be oppositely disposed, the pivotal connection between the body and the reaches being in the rear instead of in front of thecenter of gravity of the body,- and the other parts being correspondingly arranged. These and other modifications of the construction shown will, however, be readily apparent to those skilled in theart without further description in detail.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim 1. In a vehicle having a body and axles, a spring suspension at each side of the body including a spring member having a rocking connection with the body at one side of the centre of gravity thereof, and connected at one end with an axle, said suspension also including a second spring member intermediately supported by the other axle and connected at both ends to the body, said first spring member being connected to said second spring member. j g a 2. In a vehicle having abody and axles, a spring suspension at each side of the body and including a spring member having a connection with the body upon which the latter is free to rock with respect to the former, and :1V connection at one endwith an axle, said suspension including a second spring member supported by another axle and connected at one side of said axle with the body and at the other side of saidaxle with said. first named spring member, one of said spring members being extended beyond end with the body.

their connection and being connected at its 3. In a vehicle having a body and axles,

conneetionwith' the body upon which the latter is free to rock with respect to the former, said suspension including a second spring member supported by an axle, said last named spring member being connected at both sides of said axle with the body and at one side of said axle with said first named spring member. v

4. In a vehicle having a body and axles, a spring suspension comprising a pair of spring reaches supported at one end upon one of the axles, a connection between said reaches and the body upon which the latter 1 is free to rock with respect to the former,

said connection being eccentric to the center ofgravity of the body in the direction to{ ward' said axle, the adjacent end of the" body being free, and springs supported intermediate their ends upon theother axle and connected at both ends with the body,

the opposite ends of said reaches being con-= nected with said springs between the adjacent ends of the latter and said last named axle. I V l 5. In a vehicle having a body and axles,

a spring reach upon which the body issupported and having a rocking connection with the body, a spring member supported by an axle and connected intermediate its ends to said spring reach, said spring member having a relativel light extension beyond its connection witi the spring reach, said extension being connected at its end to the body.

6. In a vehicle having a body and axles, a spring reach connected at one endwith an axle and having. a rocking connection with the body at one side of its centre of gravity,

a spring member supported by the other axle and connected at opposite ends with the 7 body at opposite sides of the axle, and means i for connecting said spring reachwith said spring member at a point between the axle and one of its connections with the body. In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature.

H NRY WEBB HYDE. 

